Petty Ranch / Chris Sayer
@pettyranch
Avocado grower in Ventura County, CA. Former Navy P3C pilot, current Farm Bureau member
Hope mans the ramparts, ready to repel invaders or mooch treats from the FedEx guy.
Happy #nationalavocadoday to those that observe it. We're working on 2027 already!
The humid summer has made for happy avocado trees and potentially a very nice 2027 crop. But it is not fun for the people who work in it. (And unpredictable weather can cut both ways... a few hours too hot, too cold, too windy and the baby avocados return to the soil)
Larger fruit, more per tree, and a bit later in the season. They taste the same.
Another season wraps up as we conclude our Lamb Hass avocado harvest. Final numbers still pending, but it appears that LH has once again out produced regular Hass (lbs/per acre) and this year without the usual discounted price to the more common variety.
A few of our avocado trees are getting pruned to fix shaping issues that have held them back. More compact, lower canopies should be more productive, as well as more economical and safe to harvest. These will have some fruit for 2028, full production in 2029. Things happen slowly with avocados 🥑.
Almost finished loading up today's avocados for their journey to a taco, California roll, or toast near you. Just under 48,000 pounds, our biggest day of the season so far.
At 10AM it's 80 degrees and 100% RH just a few miles from the coast here in Ventura county. Hopefully this cloud cover will build and keep the afternoon highreasonable. .
Irrigating today ahead of a warm week. Humid, so that will take some stress off the trees but not the people. 78F and 100% RH as I type at 9:54am. Next season's avocados are happy though.
Roscoe returning from Sunday morning patrol. Despite the previous night's noise and light in in the sky he has found nothing to report. (Pic taken yesterday morning... he was not missing. )
Our 2 year old trees are large enough to produce some avocados for 2027. Switching to "adult food": more Potassium and Zinc to support fruit development. Fertilizer is $$ this year, but what we apply now shapes the '27 and '28 seasons. Spending now for a million pound year later.
Rarely seen feral barn cats Toledo (B/W) and Memphis (Orange). They're exceptional mousers, but not really team players. "We're not employees. We do our job when and how we want. You open the cans. That's the deal."- Memphis
How did the picking crew miss this beautiful avocado? It's mine now! Still? Whatever.... I will eat it. I eat fewer avocados during and after harvest season because they've been sent away. I appreciate the occasional bonus fruit.
There's no particular message to this post. Just a happy dog in an avocado orchard. And that's message enough for a Monday.
After a week of classic "June gloom" fog, it's nice to have a brilliant, bright morning here in the 93060, the leading US zip code for avocados.
Wildlife week continues with a bobcat that decided to hang out by our dining room window this evening.
Doing our part to support World Cup watch parties (in the later rounds)
The deer are either well acclimated to humans or hungry and thirsty enough not to care. Looked at me, went back to eating, even though I was only about 30 feet away. So long as they aren't eating the avocado trees.
Lots of biomass added to our "conventional" avocado orchard. Even before we made the connection for this much biomass, our SOM was 5 to 5.5% from covercrop and no/min till practices. Natural SOM in this area is 2.5 to 3%. Not bad after 140 years of farming.
So many different crops growing in Ventura County, CA: Our avocados in the foreground, neighbor's bell peppers behind, on land that has recently been cabbage, cilantro, celery and strawberries.
Heavy prune in 2025, New growth in 2026, Harvest in 2027. Avocados take patience.
"Mulch helps with water retention, weed suppression, and builds soil organic matter" says farmdog Roscoe. "And it's fun."
For years "Block Y" was an underperforming block of lemons, but the avocados seem very happy here. Hope is pleased with the progress of these 2 year old trees. (She's about 85 pounds for scale.)
2027 #avocado crop beginning to shape up. Also a good look at all the flowers that didn't become avocados.
Hass avocados are known for their unruly growth habit. A little shaping while they're young sets them up for better production and easier care later. Nice foggy morning to do some work.
Got a nice peaceful picture a little after 7 this morning. And then a day happened. But there's time to share it now. 3 year old avocado trees near Ventura CA.
Earlier this season I posted about lower than normal avocado prices. Consumers have noticed! So far this year to date every American has eaten an extra pound of avocado compared to 2025.
When General Zaragoza led the Mexican army to victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla OTD 1862, he may not have known that its anniversary would be the second highest day of the year for avocado consumption in the US. But he probably would have approved. Eat one for him.